Winter sports are heating up at East Hampton High School. This is the season for basketball, boys bowling, boys swimming, indoor track, and wrestling. Kathy Masterson, the district’s athletic director, said there’s a lot to be excited about this season.
“Boys basketball is going to be really good, wrestling definitely, bowling — we had a great year last year — swimming, track — we always have strong competitors. It’s a great time of year. You literally put a football down Friday and you’re picking up basketballs and wrestling mats and are up and running on Monday.”
Basketball
The Bonac boys hoops team has a number of returning athletes who should be impact players, especially Toby Foster, a senior and starting guard who averaged over 20 points per game last season.
“We have a number of other seniors and juniors who should be competitive for minutes on the court,” Dave Conlon, the head coach, said. “We expect a big senior season from guard Mason Jefferson, and from two juniors, Miles Menu and Tyler Persan.”
The boys’ first league game at home will be against Islip on Dec. 10 at 4:30 p.m.
As for the girls, they have a new-old head coach this year, Krista Brooks, who was the coach a few years ago and is returning this season. She said tryouts went extremely well.
“We’re rebuilding the varsity program. I’m looking forward to working with all of my freshmen, sophomores, and juniors who are going to be leaders in the years ahead,” Brooks said. “The outcome of this season is going to come down to who wants to work hard, be dedicated, and be part of the program in the future.”
Port Jefferson will be the first league home opponent for the girls on Jan. 10 at 10 a.m.
Boys Bowling
The bowling team shows incredible commitment year after year, traveling to the All Star Lanes in Riverhead for all of their practices. Twenty-one bowlers signed up for this year’s team, with 15 expected to make the final roster. Coach Mike Vitulli says the team keeps improving each season.
“Every year we get a crop of ninth graders and new seniors, and they want to grab the lightest ball and throw it as hard as possible. Then they learn: ‘Let me get a ball that I can hook. Let me get some spares,’ ” Vitulli said. “The level of commitment is so amazing. They go out, they work hard, they do the best they can to compete.”
The team’s first contest will be on Tuesday at the All Star at 4:30 p.m.
Boys Swimming
This season, the boys swim team will welcome participants from Southampton for the first time — six of them — while Pierson in Sag Harbor is sending eight. The head coach, Craig Brierley, said he’s thrilled with the turnout. He’s expecting the final roster to number around 30.
“We’re proud of the program and the interest it is generating,” he said. “As East Hampton Town lifeguards — and I am a Hampton Lifeguard Association officer — water safety is paramount to us, and the more kids we can teach to swim, the better for our water-surrounded community. The boys will decide both their team and personal goals, and Coach Thomas Brierley and I will guide them on their journey to get there.”
The first home swim meet for the boys was to have been on Tuesday this week at the Y.M.C.A. East Hampton RECenter.
Indoor Track
The boys indoor track team will have the most runners on its roster in 20 years, giving the head coach, Kevin Barry, a lot of confidence in the season ahead, especially in the long jump and middle distances.
“We have about 35 boys signed up, between Pierson and East Hampton. Just a couple of years ago, there were just 14 boys. With numbers like this, we can be competitive. We can put three kids in almost every single event. We moved into a new league, from League III to League IV, so we should be competitive. We have some really good athletes on the team.”
Among them, look out for Nelvin Suchite. The junior long jumper broke 19 feet for the first time last year. Eduardo Calle, a team captain this year, also jumps. He and Suchite both run the 4-by-200 as well.
Sean Perez, another captain, just finished his first year of cross-country, winding up first-team all-league. Barry believes he’ll have a big breakthrough in the 600 meters and the mile. Another highlight: Jasper Samuelson, who ran the fastest 5K an East Hampton sophomore has ever run at Sunken Meadow State Park, 17:10, in the county championship meet earlier this month. This is his first indoor track season.
The first meet is Saturday at 11:30 a.m. at Suffolk Community College in Brentwood.
There are many returning athletes on the girls indoor track team, but also some fresh faces. Yani Cuesta, the head coach, hopes they can bring some speed and mid-distance strength to the team.
“We definitely need to work on our speed. We’ve been really good with distance, although we’ve been graduating quite a few distance athletes,” Cuesta said. “If we can find it in any of these new girls, it will be great. And then the field events, if we can get anyone in mid-distance and field events — if we can be strong in those, then we can have a really good team.”
She will also be looking to see if any returning runners might shine in new events, as was the case with Bennett Greene, a senior who just started racewalking last season. “We’re always, as coaches, looking to see where we can find an area for the girls to be successful,” Cuesta said. “Finding those nuggets is what we look for every season.”
The girls’ first meet will be on Dec. 6 at 2:30 p.m. at the track in Brentwood.
Wrestling
Wrestling is coming off a historic season. Bronco Campsey, now a junior at Pierson, is returning as the defending county champion and a state title finalist. He is only the second Bonacker ever to win at counties. Juan Espinoza, who made it to the county quarterfinals last season, is returning for his senior year.
Francesco Palombino, also a senior, is looking to get on the podium at counties this year. Matias Gonzalez, an all-league wrestler, is another returning senior. The head coach, Ethan Mitchell, is excited to see what Gonzalez can do as a leader of the team. Mitchell was also happy to welcome two girls to this year’s tryouts.
“We have a team of about 44 kids, which is down from years past, but 35 to 40 is a perfect number for us. Only 14 varsity wrestlers go out for a dual meet,” Mitchell explained. “This is my fifth year as head coach. When I first came here, there were only two wrestlers, and they hadn’t had a season with more than one win in a decade. Now, we’re competitive.”
East Hampton hosts the 47th annual Sprig Gardner Tournament on Dec. 6 at 9 a.m.
